Short Dietary Assessment Instruments

Announcements

Short dietary assessment instruments, often called screeners, may be useful in
situations that do not require assessment of the total diet or quantitative accuracy in
dietary estimates. Recognizing the need for these tools, the Risk Factor Monitoring and
Methods Branch (RFMMB) has developed several short instruments that assess intake of
fruits and vegetables, percentage energy from fat, fiber, added sugars, whole grains,
calcium, dairy products, and red and processed meats.

Estimates of intake from short dietary assessment instruments are not as accurate as
those from more detailed methods, such as 24-hour dietary recalls. Short dietary
assessment instruments may be most useful for:

characterizing a population's median intakes;

discriminating among individuals or populations with regard to higher vs. lower intakes;

examining interrelationships between diet and other variables; and

comparing findings from a smaller study to a larger population study, such as the NHIS or CHIS.